On writing a fringe show

I’m writing a fringe show called The Forgettory. I’ll be staging it at the 2019 Adelaide Fringe. That’s February. It’s nearly November now, and I should be much further along with the script. As always I’m relying on my writing friend, Deadlines, to help me get it written.
I did actually have a writing plan, taking into account all of the other things that I need to consider (many of those things involve Earning a Living) and in my plan I would Have Script Finished by the end of November. End of November is still the plan, although I’m feeling a little uncertain about my ability to make it.
I am reminding myself of something I learnt last year: writing a fringe show is extremely rewarding. Well, it was last year. This is helped by the fact that I have lovely friends and family who make the time and the effort to come and see the show. So I guess it would be more accurate to say that ‘putting on a fringe show is rewarding.’ And since you can’t put on a show without writing it first the writing of it becomes rewarding by default.

new attitude

To help me focus and to stop me panic-writing (ie sitting at my desk googling things that don’t need to be googled) I’m trying on a new attitude to writing. Rather than agonising over how hard the agonising is, I’m accepting the agonising as part of the writing process. That is, reminding myself that no piece of writing comes out fully formed. Sitting in front of blank screens and blank notebooks is a normal place to start.
In writing this show I’m also trying a slightly different writing technique. Writing a fringe show this time around, I’m using a combination of writing and performing. Speaking the words rather than writing them down. To make sure I don’t forget what I’ve spoken, I use photo booth whenever I’m writing. This does mean I don’t miss anything. It also means that I have to watch a lot of video of myself. Excruciating.
And when all that fails I go to the page where the tickets are on sale. It’s almost the same as the deadline motivation, but slightly more potent. And now that I’ve clicked on it to get that link, I’ve reminded myself that people are paying money to see my show. I’d better get on with writing.
PS I have been using tinyletter. It’s a bit like old-school blogging was. More intimate and personal. You can sign up to it here. And you can see the letter archive here.